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en-usTechdirt. Stories filed under "texting"https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/td-88x31.gifhttps://www.techdirt.com/Mon, 17 Feb 2014 23:11:00 PSTUK Town Starts Texting Residents To Remind Them They're ObeseKarl Bodehttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140211/12124226181/uk-town-starts-texting-residents-to-remind-them-theyre-obese.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140211/12124226181/uk-town-starts-texting-residents-to-remind-them-theyre-obese.shtmlComputerWorld UK, the logic appears to be that the 10,000 pounds spent on the system might offset some of the 50 million pounds a year incurred from obesity-related deaths and health problems.

To receive the digital life advice you must be 18, have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or over, and you (fortunately) have to opt-in to be scolded by the government about your spare tire. The concept sounds a little bit like what Libertarian nightmares must be like, with a government robot sending you messages reminding you to put down that doughnut and go play outside:

Examples of the texts sent include: aim to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables each day; aim to eat regular meals and keep a check on snacks and drinks; and 'maybe walk to the shops or use the stairs more often';. The texts may also ask questions, such as ';are you pleased with the amount of exercise you've done in the last seven days, text yes or no';. If the respondents text yes, they get a reply like 'that's great, keep going';, or if the answer is negative, they get a text encouraging them to do more exercise.

It's not really clear that a text message is going to be the miracle missing link that cures someone's life-long motivational problems, and as governments get more comfortable with location data and text messages, the results aren't always good, such as the use of text messages in the Ukraine recently to warn protesters that they're being monitored and should probably go home. As with the UK's porn filters, you also have to wonder if there's a slippery slope involved in these kinds of good intentions, and it's probably not that far of a jump (at least under the Cameron government) toward systems that catalog and ridicule you for all your non-government sanctioned personal failings.

Though hey, if all it took for you to finally stop shoveling Cheeze-Its into your gullet and go outside was a text message, why ask why?

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]]>put-down-that-doughnut-Davehttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20140211/12124226181Thu, 24 Oct 2013 07:19:35 PDTTexas Judge Forced To Resign After Being Caught Texting Instructions To Assistant DA During TrialTim Cushinghttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20131023/14363624989/texas-judge-forced-to-resign-after-being-caught-texting-instructions-to-assistant-da-during-trial.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20131023/14363624989/texas-judge-forced-to-resign-after-being-caught-texting-instructions-to-assistant-da-during-trial.shtml
Oh, the hilarity that is the phrase "criminal justice system." Talk to any defense attorney and they'll tell you how the deck is stacked against defendants and defense lawyers. The ideal of "innocent until proven guilty" has become little more than a disclaimer tacked onto cop-centered reality shows. Defendants are guilty until the jury is somehow tricked by the defense into handing down a "not guilty" verdict. A lot of effort goes towards dissuading defendants from even making it this far, as prosecutors will present worst-case scenarios comprised of every violation conceivable in order to get an agreement to plead guilty to a lesser charge.

The prevailing perception that the person charged is guilty, with the only answer yet to be determined is how guilty, makes defending arrestees an uphill battle. Judge (former judge) Elizabeth Coker took this uphill battle, increased the grade to 85 degrees, covered it with a sheet of ice and sprinkled it with a 50/50 blend of Teflon and motor oil.

Elizabeth E. Coker may forever be known as the "texting judge," but her notoriety will soon be all that is left of her days on the bench of the 258th District Court of Polk, Trinity, and San Jacinto Counties. Coker signed an "AGREEMENT TO RESIGN FROM JUDICIAL OFFICE IN LIEU OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION" with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct…

The agreement comes in the wake of a recent investigation revealing Coker texted instructions from the bench to a Polk County Assistant District Attorney who was assisting in the prosecution of a case in Coker's court.

The good news is that Coker is being stripped of all of her judicial power. Once the resignation goes through, she won't even be able to perform a wedding. The bad news is that this texting incident was only one of several alleged incidents in which Coker undermined the justice system. [Perhaps someone should have passed her, and any prosecutors dealing with her courtroom, a copy of this letter from a Texas DA warning his staff away from ex parte discussions...]

[J]udge Coker used Assistant District Attorney Jones to privately communicate information about the Reeves case to the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case; to suggest questions for the prosecutor to ask during the trial; to ensure that a witness was able to refresh his memory and rehabilitate his testimony by reviewing his videotaped interview with law enforcement before he took the stand for the second time the following day; and to discuss legal issues pertinent to the case. in an unsuccessful effort to assist the State obtain a guilty verdict in the case…

[t]he Commission investigated claims that Judge Coker allegedly engaged in other improper ex parte communications and meetings with Jones, other members of the Polk County District Attorney's Office, the San Jacinto County District Attorney, and certain defense attorneys regarding various Cases pending in her court; Judge Coker allegedly exhibited a bias in favor of certain attorneys and a prejudice against others in both her judicial rulings and her court appointments: and Judge Coker allegedly met with jurors in an inappropriate manner, outside the presence of counsel, while the jurors were deliberating in one or more criminal trials…

Add to all the alleged misconduct above the apparent fact that she kept using the same questionable tactics right up to her appearance before the Commission.

[t]he Commission also expressed concerns that Judge Coker discussed the Commission's investigation and Judge Coker's written responses to the investigation with a material witness prior to that witness' testimony before the Commission in an apparent attempt to influence that witness, and that the judge may not have been candid and truthful in her testimony before the Commission when questioned about her contact with the witness...

In addition to stripping her judicial powers, the Commission also leaves her solely responsible for bearing the cost of any litigation arising from her alleged misconduct. The Commission, however, chose not to pursue these allegations in exchange for her immediate resignation. Coker utilizes that out in her public statement.

"The Judicial Commission made no finding or determinations of fact in my voluntary resignation, and I have not admitted guilt, fault or liability in my voluntary resignation. While I could have fought these allegations, it would have involved significant time, significant expense, and disruption to everyone involved. I did not feel that was in the best interests of the taxpayers, our court system, my family or myself" Coker stated.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Coker sacrificing herself for the good of a long list of others, including the taxpayers who paid her salary and the court system she allegedly abused from a position of power. Thanks to the commission's decision, these will forever remain allegations -- the equivalent of "getting off on a technicality." If Coker ends up in court because of her previous improprieties, I would imagine she'll have to search well outside her district for a defense lawyer.

Capita, which won a £40m UKBA contract to trace 174,000 migrants living illegally in the country from September, has been sending text messages and emails to them telling they are required to leave Britain. But immigration lawyers say those who have received Capita's texts in recent weeks include a woman with a valid British passport and a man with a valid visa who had invested £1m in a UK-based business.

As if suddenly being asked to leave a country you're legally residing in wasn't upsetting enough, the fact that these "hit the road" messages were sent over the holiday season only made things worse.

Alison Harvey, of the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association, said it had asked for the messages not to be sent over the holiday period: "We were concerned at reports of people who had valid leave to be in the UK receiving the texts and that, over the holiday period, it would be difficult for them to get in touch with their lawyer and they would be anxious and distressed with no possibility of reassurance. Our request was declined."

Home Secretary Theresa May has promised to look into the erroneous texts and is being pressured to halt the program altogether. To its credit, the UKBA has owned up to providing the questionable info:

UKBA admitted the problem was with the accuracy of its records: "We advise anyone contacted in error to contact us so records can be updated. Where our records show that people are here illegally, it is vital we are able to contact them as we are determined that they should return home. This is the first time a government has taken proactive steps to deal with this pool of cases, some of which date back to December 2008."

Capita has a contract worth potentially £40m, but is paid for results (migrants leaving the country), rather than guaranteed the entire amount, so it seems unlikely that it has anything to gain by contacting legal migrants. It's also unlikely that sending stern text messages will have much impact on the immigrants the UK government wants to see removed. Of course, Capita may not have the staffing to pursue illegal immigrants with anything more manpower-intensive than texts and emails. One week prior to receiving this contract, it was taken to task by a National Audit Office report which showed that it failed to provide enough qualified and competent courtroom interpreters (through its subsidiary, Applied Language Solutions [ALS]), leading to a large number of abandoned trials.

"The ministry overlooked its own due diligence process, which showed ALS was simply too small to shoulder a contract of this value. The ministry also took no account of the resolve of many experienced interpreters not to work for this company. Against a target of 98%, ALS supplied an interpreter in only 58% of hearings in February 2012.

"This unacceptably poor performance led to courtroom chaos," the report said. It forced court staff to interrupt their core duties to find interpreters at short notice and triggered a steep rise in the number of abandoned trials … ALS could not even guarantee that interpreters had undergone mandatory criminal records checks."

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said the flurry of recent statements by senior ministers calling for a crackdown on "bogus students" had given the impression that overseas students were no longer welcome and was driving them towards competitor countries such as the US, Canada and Australia.

"We are concerned about the language and the atmosphere that is being created, not least because it plays very, very badly internationally," Dandridge said. "Whatever the intentions of the politicians are … every time these sorts of comments are made by the home secretary or others it does have a potentially very damaging impact internationally."

A study by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (pdf) estimated that overseas students contribute nearly £8 billion a year to Britain's economy and projects it to near £17 billion by 2025. Not only does putting out the "unwelcome mat" for foreign students adversely affect the UK's economy, it also does damage to its standing in the global marketplace, as Dandrige explains:

"What universities are reporting to us [is that] they are seeing significant drops, particularly from India, from Pakistan and now from China and Saudi Arabia. These are countries that send large numbers and also they are important countries in terms of international engagement and industry engagement, so we want to be promoting and fostering relations with them, not erecting barriers."

Between Capita's own issues, the UKGA's failure to provide up-to-date information and the fact that chasing immigrants out might not be in the country's best interest, this situation has the potential to develop into a black eye for all involved. Even if the number of legal immigrants who spent the holiday season wondering if they were being deported is low compared to the total contacted, it's still a very inauspicious start for a questionable program.

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]]>i'd-say-'this-will-all-end-badly,'-but-the-beginning's-bad-enoughttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20130108/15423921611Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:13:00 PSTRather Than Punishing Moviegoing Texters, Why Not Provide Incentives For Them To Put Down Their Phones?Mike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20121206/00250721255/rather-than-punishing-moviegoing-texters-why-not-provide-incentives-them-to-put-down-their-phones.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20121206/00250721255/rather-than-punishing-moviegoing-texters-why-not-provide-incentives-them-to-put-down-their-phones.shtml
So, it appears that the Cinemark chain of theaters is trying a system of positive reinforcement. Within its normal movie app for iOS and Android is a separate "mini-app" allowing users to put their phones into "CineMode." It automatically makes the screens on the phones dim, and puts them into vibrate mode -- sort of like an equivalent to airplane mode. But here's the kicker: since the app knows what you're doing, it can keep track of whether or not you actually follow through and leave CineMode enabled throughout the entire flick. For the users who do that, they get rewarded:

When the movie ends and the guest exits CineMode, Cinemark will automatically send a reward (digital coupon) through the app and store it in the Rewards section.

Who knows how well it will work in practice, but it's great to see people realizing that technology can help enable this kind of positive reinforcement, rather than always doubling down on the negative reinforcement/punishment.

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]]>positive-reinforcement,-rather-than-negative-reinforcementhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20121206/00250721255Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:42:06 PDTCalifornia Legalizes Some Texting While Driving, Sort OfMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20120716/23515519720/california-legalizes-some-texting-while-driving-sort.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20120716/23515519720/california-legalizes-some-texting-while-driving-sort.shtmlincrease in accidents compared to nearby states that had no such ban. How does that make sense? Well, it's because the law doesn't seem to actually get everyone to stop texting while driving. Instead, what it does is make them hide what they're doing, which generally means putting it down in their lap. Before that, they could hold it up and still see the road, even if they weren't paying close enough attention to it.

None of this is defending the ridiculously dangerous practice of texting while driving, but merely acknowledging that the law intended to make the roads safer could actually do the opposite.

With all that said, it's interesting to see that California quietly legalized some forms of texting while driving last week with very little fanfare. Basically, it allows totally hands-free texting -- such as dictating messages via a bluetooth headset or a car service like OnStar. Of course, unsurprisingly when dealing with lawmakers and lawmaking, there's a lot of confusion over the new rules -- with some wondering if it meant that something like Siri was now legal while driving. That resulted in the following amusing passage in the SJ Merc article about this, in which the staff of the sponsor of the bill is left to admit that no one there has an iPhone, so they didn't even really think about Siri:

On Friday, after much head-scratching and acknowledging nobody in Miller's office owns a Siri-equipped iPhone 4S, the assemblyman's aides concluded it will still be illegal to use your actual phone to text behind the wheel -- even by speaking the message directly into Siri.

The California Highway Patrol confirms that just the act of turning on the phone or selecting the phone's hands-free text app, like pushing the Siri button or Google apps on Android phones, is enough to warrant flashing lights in your rearview mirror and a $100-plus ticket. The same thing goes for using your phone to read texts.

"The phone can't be in your hands," said CHP spokeswoman Jaime Coffee. "Hands-free is the key."

Either way, this seems to suggest, once again, the difficulty in regulating any particular technology in a rapidly changing technology market. I still don't understand why we don't just do the simple thing: make dangerous and distracted driving illegal, and just teach people the human consequences of doing something moronic like texting while driving.

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]]>will-it-reduce-accidents?https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20120716/23515519720Wed, 30 May 2012 03:04:00 PDTWoman Texting Boyfriend Not Liable For The Car Crash He Was In While Texting BackMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20120529/03420119099/woman-texting-boyfriend-not-liable-car-crash-he-was-while-texting-back.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20120529/03420119099/woman-texting-boyfriend-not-liable-car-crash-he-was-while-texting-back.shtmlsuing mobile operators over car crashes with drivers who were on their phones. Those lawsuits haven't gone very far, but with the rise of "texting while driving" as a big issue these days, someone apparently tried to blame a woman who texted her boyfriend for a car accident, because as he attempted to reply, he plowed into a couple on a motorcycle. The lawyer for the couple argued that the woman should have known that her boyfriend was driving at the time they were texting. Even if that was true, that hardly means she's to blame for the accident in any legal sense. Thankfully, the judge readily agreed, dismissing the case against her, and noting that the responsibility is on the recipient. Otherwise there would be some perverse results:

Rand said it's reasonable for text message senders to assume the recipients will behave responsibly, and he also noted drivers are bombarded with many forms of distraction, whether they be text messages, notifications from smartphones, GPS devices or signs along the road.

"Were I to extend this duty to this case, in my judgment, any form of distraction could potentially serve as the basis of a liability case," Rand said.

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]]>common-sense-prevailshttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20120529/03420119099Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:29:44 PSTMay The Dolphin Be Unflogged: Paskistani Government Censors TextingTim Cushinghttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20111127/18464916904/may-dolphin-be-unflogged-paskistani-government-censors-texting.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20111127/18464916904/may-dolphin-be-unflogged-paskistani-government-censors-texting.shtmlcompiling a list of words and phrases deemed "inappropriate" for texting. This list has been forwarded to the nation's mobile operators, making a brief appearance as a publicly-available Google doc. Although the public permission has been rescinded, a version of the list appears here (very probably NSFW, especially if someone is reading over your shoulder or if you tend to read everything aloud).

According to a mobile operator representative:

"There are more than 1,600 words in the list including indecent language, expletives, swear words, slang etc, which have to be filtered. The filtering is not good for the system and may degrade the quality of network services-plus it would be a great inconvenience to our subscribers if their SMS was not delivered due to the wrong choice of words"

To give you the gist of the forbidden texts, imagine George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV," attach nearly any other imaginable word to those seven, add a couple hundred euphemisms for masturbation, some drug slang and a slew of misspellings and you'll be in the general neighborhood. It's what's lying on the outskirts of this neighborhood where things get weird.

Athletes Foot. Defecate. Deposit. (Yes, I know, but I would imagine some Pakistanis still use a banking system.) Do Me is thwarted by removing a space, leaving Pakistanis with no word for "enclosed arena." G Unit. God Damed Motha Fucka. I'm saddened to see "sexwhore" is no longer permissible, as it has become my go-to texting phrase, especially when contacting immediate family members.

Famous STD gonorrhea narrowly avoids the ban, thanks to an apparent lack of reference material ("gonorrehea"). Of course, infection tends to lead to a burning sensation that also makes the "no-go" list: "smagma."

Inveterate masturbators will be thrilled to learn that many variations have been banned (mastabater, masterbate, mastrabator) but the original, correctly spelled version lives on. Sadly, inveterate jokesters will have to make do without their precious, um, "pun tang."

Neon Deon. Rae Carruth. (Apparently, the Pakistani government has something against flashy/homicidal football players, not to mention the defunct XFL ("he hate me/hehateme")).

"Tongue" gets twisted as well, appearing on the list as "tonge," "toung" and "tounge." #1072-1074 are apparently intentionally left blank.

All in all, a very dirty and plentiful list. One can almost imagine the censoring group giggling childishly long into the night while coming (I KNOW) up with this list.

Many Pakistanis have taken to the internet to express their displeasure with having their constitutional free speech rights violated. Of course, officials are quick to point out that this censorship is "for the children."

Mohammad Younis, a PTA spokesman claims the ban was a "result of numerous meetings and consultations with stakeholders," and went on to point out that "nobody would like this happening to their young boy or girl."

(Oddly enough, "Wuutang Clan" is forbidden, despite the fact that they are sporting an additional "u" and are distinctly "for the children.")

The spokesman also points out that they never thought they'd get caught:

Mr. Younis also added that the list was never intended to be distributed publicly and was only intended to be used for testing purposes.

Supposedly the final version will be much shorter, leaving Pakistani texters only "partially censored" which is better than "completely censored" but still much, much worse than enjoying their right to free speech. Citing Pakistani court precedent, the Pakistani government representative helpfully pointed out that, like many "unlimited" data plans, constitutionally-protected free speech isn't "without restrictions."

All in all, this move sounds like a nanny-state circle****, presided over by officious ***hats with too much free time and way too much power.

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]]>ignorant-sh*thttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20111127/18464916904Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:20:47 PDTDOJ Document Shows How Long Telcos Hold Onto Your DataMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110929/13165516137/doj-document-shows-how-long-telcos-hold-onto-your-data.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110929/13165516137/doj-document-shows-how-long-telcos-hold-onto-your-data.shtmlall sorts of data from telcos without any oversight or without a warrant, it seems rather important to know what kind of info your mobile operator is keeping -- and for how long. The ACLU, via a Freedom of Information Act request, was able to get a "for law enforcement use only" document that shows how long the carriers hold on to what data (Wired also notes that the document could already be found online if you knew the title). The document itself is a pretty weak scan:

Thankfully, however, now that the data is out there, we can show it friendlier formats. Michael Robertson was kind enough to take the data (minus the "for law enforcement use only" part, and put it into a Google docs spreadsheet:

Additionally, the folks at Wired put together a nice infographic from the data:

What it seems to show is that Verizon holds onto your texting data for the least amount of time, but also retains the actual text of your text messages -- something no one else, outside of Virgin Mobile, does. How long until we see a push for a mobile data retention law to "standardize" what these companies have to hang onto and for how long?

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]]>a-long,-long-timehttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110929/13165516137Thu, 5 May 2011 12:10:00 PDTChicago Politicians Say Mobile Phones Should Block Kids From Texting While DrivingMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110505/00370614161/chicago-politicians-say-mobile-phones-should-block-kids-texting-while-driving.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110505/00370614161/chicago-politicians-say-mobile-phones-should-block-kids-texting-while-driving.shtmldisabling the feature if the phone was moving over a certain speed. It was targeted at parents to put on their kids' phones, but we haven't seen much of an indication that it's gained any traction. No worries, politicians to the rescue. Gregil10 points us to the news that "an influential group of Chicago aldermen," are pushing for a law that would require such software be placed on any mobile phone sold in Chicago, which could then be enabled by the parents (or, I guess, by the user themselves).

Of course, the same problems that we discussed a few years back apply (and haven't been solved). If you think kids won't figure out how to get around such things, you haven't seen kids and their mobile phones lately. They understand the devices better than parents. Even if a parent can figure out how to enable the software, you can bet kids will figure out how to disable it.

An even bigger issue is that blocking texting based on the speed of travel is a really broad brush for trying to stop texting while driving. Speed of travel isn't a very good proxy for whether or not someone is driving. It may be a good indication that someone is travelling in a vehicle, but that hardly means they're controlling the vehicle. And, it really doesn't make sense to block texting for passengers. In fact, allowing passengers to communicate in this way often serves as a good way to stop drivers from texting, because they can ask a passenger to handle the texting instead. Or if someone's on a bus or a train, should they really be stopped from texting? Often, that's when people use such functionality the most, letting others (such as parents!) know that they got on the bus or train and would be arriving on time/late/early/etc.

I certainly recognize the risks of texting and driving. And it's no secret that many, many kids do engage in this incredibly risky and stupid behavior. But laws like this don't solve the real problem. Instead, they just create even more problems.

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]]>technological-realitieshttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110505/00370614161Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:41:18 PSTWoman Threatening To Sue Mall Because Mall Video Captured Her Text-And-Walking Into A FountainMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110121/03491612760/woman-threatening-to-sue-mall-because-mall-video-captured-her-text-and-walking-into-fountain.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110121/03491612760/woman-threatening-to-sue-mall-because-mall-video-captured-her-text-and-walking-into-fountain.shtmlMr. LemurBoy was the first of a whole bunch of you to send in this story of a woman who was trying to walk and text in the mall where she works... and paid so little attention to what was going on around her that she fell face first into a big fountain. As with all such things like that, it's difficult not to at least chuckle a bit when you see that kind of thing, and, indeed the mall security folks found it funny enough to put the clip online, where it went viral. And even though the woman was fine and even though it's impossible to identify her in the video, she's now come forward and is threatening to sue the security guards for both releasing the video and not coming to help her fast enough.

I can't see her having much success with any such lawsuit. She was the one who did the embarrassing thing, and it was done in public, where lots of people could have seen/filmed it. And it's not clear what legal statute she's relying on where security has a requirement to help her after her own mistake. But, even more amazing is that she complains about how embarrassed she was about the whole thing... but doesn't seem to realize that no one knew who she was before. By coming forward, she's now identified who she is so that people will know. Wouldn't that be even more embarrassing?

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]]>rethink-your-targetshttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110121/03491612760Tue, 16 Nov 2010 01:26:08 PSTUK Police Told To Text Instead Of Using Radios In Order To Save MoneyMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20101114/22543211866/uk-police-told-to-text-instead-of-using-radios-in-order-to-save-money.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20101114/22543211866/uk-police-told-to-text-instead-of-using-radios-in-order-to-save-money.shtmlinstructing cops to make use of text messaging as an alternative to keep their radio usage down. While I definitely understand why the police network would be more expensive, and can see some benefits to police texting when appropriate, it does seem a bit bizarre to warn police to be cost conscious in their communicating with fellow police.

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]]>but-no-texting-while-drivinghttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101114/22543211866Mon, 1 Nov 2010 22:19:07 PDTCan Handing Out 'Txting Kills' Thumb Bands Stop People From Texting While Driving?Mike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101019/10554511489/can-handing-out-txting-kills-thumb-bands-stop-people-from-texting-while-driving.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101019/10554511489/can-handing-out-txting-kills-thumb-bands-stop-people-from-texting-while-driving.shtmlmore dangerous, because it hasn't stopped people from texting, but just caused them to further hide the activity by holding the phone down low -- forcing them to take their eyes off the road more. This isn't to say that we think texting while driving is a good idea -- it's not. But just because you pass a law trying to ban a really dumb idea, it doesn't mean it will have the desired effect, and the early evidence suggests that there are serious unintended consequences with these laws.

Instead of laws, I think that a combination of education and technology could be a lot more effective, and it appears that at least some law enforcement folks are trying to increase the educational aspect. Parker Mason points us to the news that police in Iowa have started issuing "Txting Kills" thumb bands (sort of like the Livestrong bracelets... but for your thumb) rather than tickets to those caught texting while driving (they're also just handing them out at schools). It's nice to see an educational component, rather than just strict punishment, but I'm not convinced that thumb bands alone will do the trick...

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]]>beats-bad-lawshttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101019/10554511489Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:16:43 PDTNew Study Shows Texting Bans May Make Roads Even More DangerousMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20100929/00202911209/new-study-shows-texting-bans-may-make-roads-even-more-dangerous.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20100929/00202911209/new-study-shows-texting-bans-may-make-roads-even-more-dangerous.shtmldon't believe the laws work. And, now, it appears that we have some more evidence to support that. A new study has shown that state laws banning driving while texting have not reduced accidents, and in some cases may have even resulted in more accidents. How could it have increased accidents? Because people who want to text anyway -- especially unskilled young drivers -- begin holding their phones lower to avoid detection, making it that much more difficult to control the car and be aware of their surroundings. The study compared before and after stats in states that implemented texting-while-driving bans, and then also compared the findings to neighboring states that didn't have such laws.

This seems like a classic case of politicians not understanding unintended consequences. Politicians love to ban stuff, but they never take into account the actual response to those bans, and just assume that if the law bans something people will stop doing it. Instead, they may continue to do the action in an even less socially acceptable way -- and that can put a lot more people in danger.

The article quotes someone who makes the point that I've been trying to make for years:

"The trouble is that texting and using a cellphone while driving is definitely hazardous. Nobody argues that. The danger in putting all the emphasis on laws is that it is being done to the exclusion of something else that would be more effective."

No one is arguing that texting while driving is a good thing -- just that these laws aren't helping (and may even be making the problem worse). Instead of pretending we live in a perfect world where if something is banned by law, people will stop doing it, why not focus on looking for solutions that actually make people safer?

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]]>unintended-consequences...https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100929/00202911209Mon, 27 Sep 2010 04:11:40 PDTBank Teller Caught Texting Bank Robber Right Before RobberyMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20100924/02511811145/bank-teller-caught-texting-bank-robber-right-before-robbery.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20100924/02511811145/bank-teller-caught-texting-bank-robber-right-before-robbery.shtmlsome rather self-incriminating text messages to the bank robber right before the robbery took place. According to the court documents, the teller and the bank robber had a rather revealing conversation:

Later, they talk in code, the FBI said in a criminal complaint against the two.

"Mom just got home," Lightner texted.

Agents said he appeared to refer to an off-duty officer who had arrived to work at the bank.

"So turn around?" Franklin asked.

"No...hurry," the teller responded.

Lightner also appeared to give Franklin a refresher on the layout of the bank and where the drive-through area was located.

"Just in case u don't remember, just go in the front and walk straight... then u will see this hallway and my closet will be to the left," Lightner is quoted as texting.

In another message, the FBI said Lightner warned about a co-worker who "screams at scary movies, so be calm."

According to that same report, from the local NBC affiliate, police are now investigating an earlier bank robbery that involved the same teller at a different bank, and a suspect who matches the description of the guy who robbed this bank. Apparently, in that case the teller was "taken hostage and forced into a vault."

Whatever did scammers do in the age before SMS?

Either way, it does make you wonder if they didn't realize that it was possible to find this stuff on their phones, or if they just assumed they had the whole thing planned so well that they figured the police would never bother to check the text messages.

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]]>inside-jobhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100924/02511811145Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:16:58 PDTIs There A Better Way To Text While Driving?Mike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100823/02465910726.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100823/02465910726.shtmlreading a text message while sitting at a traffic light, but that's about the extent of it. Still, with more and more people seemingly unable to resist the temptation, is the best thing to do to fret and complain about this trend, or to try to come up with a technological solution? Is there a technological solution that would let people text safely? I'm not entirely sure, but it does seem a bit surprising that we haven't even heard of the equivalent of the "hands free" kit for texting. There are, of course, plenty of voice recognition offerings out there, but the quality still suffers (and most people still want to check over the results to make sure they work). I could see attempts at "augmented reality" where the screen on the phone shows what's happening on the road, but your focus would still be off. So, are there any technological solutions? My guess is that we're going to wait until we really get autonomous driving vehicles that have an "autopilot" mode before we reach a stage where any sort of texting while driving is safe.

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]]>or-should-there-be?https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100823/02465910726Fri, 2 Jul 2010 08:43:19 PDTNewspaper Publishes Totally Made Up List Of 'Disorders' Associated With Text MessagingMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20100630/03410110016.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20100630/03410110016.shtmlpresenting a list of totally made up "texting disorders" put together by a "technology researcher" as if they were real and serious issues. The list is almost comical:

Textaphrenia: thinking you've heard or felt a new text message vibration when there is no message.

Textiety: a feeling of anxiety from not receiving or sending any text messages.

Post-traumatic text disorder: injuries related to texting, such as walking into objects by not paying attention to your surroundings.

Those aren't disorders. That's a joke list that someone put together for fun, right?

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]]>credibility?https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100630/03410110016Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:33:00 PSTYet Another Study Shows Txting Improves Kids' SpellingMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100120/2326407852.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100120/2326407852.shtmlharm kids' ability to write properly, we've seen study after study after study after study after study after study has found exactly the opposite. They've found that most kids can tell the difference, and do understand what's proper and what's not. On top of that, heavy texters tend to be better spellers, because they're much more used to writing -- even if they tend to abbreviate the language when communicating via technology.

So it almost seems superfluous to mention that yet another one of these studies has come out and it, too, has found that those who regularly use txt spk have very strong literacy skills. But what's annoying is that both the researchers and the BBC act as if this was a "surprise." It's as if no one bothered to check to see if similar research had been done before, and found the many, many, many studies all saying the same exact thing.

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]]>ok,-are-we-done-yet?https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100120/2326407852Fri, 4 Sep 2009 17:48:00 PDTEven More Research: Technology Is Making Kids Better Writers, Not WorseMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090904/0344536106.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090904/0344536106.shtmldestroying kids' ability to write. Yet, pretty much every study on the subject has found the opposite to be true. Study after study after study after study after study have all found that kids today are better writers than in the past.

"I think we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization."

That's because people are constantly writing. Almost all of this communication actually involves writing. In the past, outside of school -- or certain job functions, many people barely wrote at all. And, yes, kids use txt spk at times, but every generation changes and morphs the language. But, more importantly, kids are smart enough to know what's appropriate when in most cases:

Lunsford's team found that the students were remarkably adept at what rhetoricians call kairos—assessing their audience and adapting their tone and technique to best get their point across. The modern world of online writing, particularly in chat and on discussion threads, is conversational and public, which makes it closer to the Greek tradition of argument than the asynchronous letter and essay writing of 50 years ago.

But there's also an interesting philosophical shift that he highlights. Since the type of writing and the audience is different than in the past, many younger people today approach writing in a different manner, and even have rethought what they consider to be good writing:

The fact that students today almost always write for an audience (something virtually no one in my generation did) gives them a different sense of what constitutes good writing. In interviews, they defined good prose as something that had an effect on the world. For them, writing is about persuading and organizing and debating, even if it's over something as quotidian as what movie to go see. The Stanford students were almost always less enthusiastic about their in-class writing because it had no audience but the professor: It didn't serve any purpose other than to get them a grade.

This is really fascinating when you think about it. Historically, many people haven't been that concerned about their writing, because it didn't matter. But, the more it matters, the more seriously they take it. This certainly doesn't mean that everyone has become a good writer -- far from it (just view any open comment forum). But, when people really care about what they're saying, they tend to get better at it, and the internet gives more people more reasons to care. As for all the bad writing out there? It's not a sign of the destruction of written English. Those people probably wouldn't be writing much at all without the internet. So it's actually a step up, relatively, from what they would have been doing in an alternate internetless universe.

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]]>and-again-and-again-and-againhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090904/0344536106Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:17:58 PDTLatest Techno Moral Panic: Texting Is 'Rewiring Young Brains'Mike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090818/0112385912.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090818/0112385912.shtmlseries of alarmist studies that get lots of press lately, with titles about how social networks or other technologies are somehow negatively impacting people's brains. Nearly all of these didn't hold up under much scrutiny, as they almost all took things out of context or greatly extrapolated a finding and misinterpreted the results. The latest to add to the pile? A report claiming that texting may be "rewiring young brains." The evidence? Kids who used mobile phones a lot finished a variety of tests much faster, but tended to be "less accurate." That's about it. From there, the guy who did the study concludes that it must be the fact that many mobile phones use "predictive texting" that's training kids to be fast, but inaccurate, assuming something else will come in and fix the mess. Now, perhaps that's true, but it seems like the study doesn't actually show that at all. Also, it's not clear from the report what sort of mistakes are being made. The article talks about spelling mistakes, which are common in texting, but the real question is whether or not that really matters? It may very well depend on context. In a text message, a spelling mistake isn't a big deal. In a resume, it's a different story. But where on that spectrum did these tests land? But more importantly, even if we grant the premise that kids who text a lot are a lot sloppier on certain tests... how do you go from that to immediately concluding that their brains are being wired differently? It sounds a lot more like what they've been trained to do, rather than any serious neurological shift.

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]]>mmm-hmmhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090818/0112385912Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:39:00 PDTThe No Responsibility Society: Suing Because Your Daughter Is Texting So Much She Didn&apos;t Notice The Open ManholeMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090713/1925105533.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090713/1925105533.shtmlplanning to sue the city for not adequately protecting their daughter from herself. At least they're not suing the mobile carrier or mobile device maker as well...

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]]>houston, we have a problemhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090713/1925105533Thu, 28 May 2009 17:47:39 PDTToday, It's Good Manners Being Killed By TextingCarlo Longinohttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090527/1055455029.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090527/1055455029.shtmldestroying teenagers' thumbs and ruining their minds; now, it's got a piece on how texting at the dinner table is the latest epidemic of bad manners. There's the obligatory quote from a mental-health professional, as a therapist weighs in to say that texting while eating has become "a major issue" among couples in counseling. It also has etiquette writers keen to push their latest book by touting the need for proper gadget etiquette, as if being rude or inconsiderate has somehow changed since we got cell phones. It seems like for years, people have been saying how American families never eat dinner together anymore, but apparently that problem's been solved. Now if it weren't for those damn texts...

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]]>what-next?https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090527/1055455029Thu, 28 May 2009 04:33:53 PDTTechnology Again Causes American Idol Controversy, Fingers Pointed At AT&TCarlo Longinohttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090527/1059095030.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090527/1059095030.shtmlit helped skew the vote. This isn't the first time telecommunications have caught this sort of flak, as it's been a regular occurrence during the show's run that people have faced jammed phone lines when they've tried to vote. But this time, it's a little different. Apparently AT&T reps were at a couple of viewing parties organized by fans of the winning contestant, Kris Allen, and brought along a bunch of phones with them -- since, of course, only people on AT&T's wireless network can vote for the show's winner via text message. Then, the reps supposedly showed people at the parties how to "power text", or send in several votes at once. It seems unlikely that the votes spawned from the two parties were enough to tip the balance in Allen's favor, but the appearance of impropriety on the part of one of the show's major sponsors may be a bit more damaging.

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]]>newsworthyhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090527/1059095030Tue, 26 May 2009 16:44:00 PDTTexting Is Wrecking Your Teenager's Mind, Destroying Their Thumbs, Killing Puppies, Etc.Carlo Longinohttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090526/0903535010.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090526/0903535010.shtml"is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists". Apparently all the texting kids do creates anxiety, keeps them from getting enough sleep, and causes repetitive stress injuries. Sure, texting could have some some negative impact on some kids, but like with so many things, for every citation of some horror texting causes, you can find studies touting texting's benefits, too. And finding one girl who texted so much it made her thumbs hurt really isn't a sign of an epidemic, either. It certainly makes for some good headlines, but is the rise of texting among teens really any different than the growth of any other technology, none of which seem to have killed us off yet?

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]]>doom-and-gloomhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090526/0903535010Wed, 20 May 2009 15:26:00 PDTMissouri: Text Messaging While Driving Is Fine, As Long As You're Over 21Carlo Longinohttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090519/1045574932.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090519/1045574932.shtmlbut only for drivers under the age of 21. If you accept the supposed need for these sorts of laws, how could you argue they should only apply to those under 21? What happens on a person's 21st birthday that suddenly makes texting while driving acceptable and safe? Answers in the comments, please...

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]]>disparate-impacthttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090519/1045574932Tue, 12 May 2009 04:52:30 PDTBoston Trolley Accident Sadly Shows, Again, That Cell Phone Bans Alone Don't Really WorkCarlo Longinohttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090509/1726574814.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090509/1726574814.shtmlsending text messages at the time of the accident, despite a transit authority ban on such activity. This latest incident comes after the horrible crash in California last year that killed scores of people, in which the train conductor was said to be texting, and highlights how bans like this, whether covering the drivers of trains or cars, really aren't effective. A reasonably intelligent person driving a trolley or other mass-transit vehicle doesn't need a ban to tell them that texting while driving isn't such a good idea. If they aren't smart enough to figure that out, they're probably just going to ignore the ban anyway, like this driver in Boston, undermining the point of the rule. Again, it goes back to personal responsibility, something that politicians and rulemakers won't be able to conjure up out of legislation, try as they might. This isn't to say that people like trolley drivers should be allowed to text while working -- far from it. But to think that putting a ban into place will, in itself, simply and easily eliminate the problem and make everybody safer is misguided.